She Spoke To Me With Your Words
by inveritas
Summary: Seven years after saying goodbye, choices are questioned and lives reexamined. HM. Let me know what you think!
1. Thoughts on the past

**She Spoke To Me With Your Words**

**Chapter 1: Thoughts on the past.**

It had been almost seven years since they had last seen each other. To her it seemed like it was only yesterday, that moment was still very much present in her thoughts. She wasn't sure if she would ever see him again, but she knew in her heart that he deserved to know the truth. She had felt a terrible guilt all these years, she didn't know how much longer she could live with it.

Their daughter had just turned seven, this alone did not make her question her choices she had made all those years ago. It was the way their daughter spoke to her, it was with his expression, his humour. She sounded just like her father. This is how she knew she had to tell him the truth, but she wasn't sure how he would react she knew he had problems with children, because of the war. But eventually their daughter would start asking questions about her Daddy and would not accept simple answers such as merely stating that it was a long time ago and not to worry. She thought back to that last night, seven years ago.

_She sat on his bunk, and watched him pack. She just sat there in silence. She was thinking about the past three years, the changes, the hurdles and the rewards of their lives, their relationships, not that they in particular had really had one. The silence was eventually broken by him. _

"_Can you hand me that book?" he asked pointing towards the shelf above his bunk._

"_Yeah, sure." She answered, standing up to get it. The book was **The Last of the Mohicans**, the book in which his nickname had come from, Hawkeye._

_She handed the book to him. He took it from her. _

_After a small moment of silence she finally asked, "Hawkeye, how do you feel about going home?"_

_He turned to face her and answered, "How do I feel about going home?," he repeated. Then added, "well happy I guess, relieved but also nervous. Why do you ask?"_

"_Well I was just thinking, we've all been through so much and we've been around the same people and have lived in the same place for so long. I was just wondering what it's going to be like when we have to go home, to another place, away from the same people and the same situations." She answered._

"_I see what you mean. I think it will take some time, but eventually I think we'll all be ok. We'll have our families and friends to help us if we need it." Hawkeye answered._

"_Yeah you'll have your Dad, BJ will have Peg and Erin, the Colonel will have Mrs. Potter, Charles will have his sister and parents, Klinger will have Soon Lee and his family but what will I have? I don't even have a home town. My parents are divorced, you know that. Where will I be when I need help? I don't have any real friends, I was raised in the Army I never stayed in a place long enough to make friends. The only friends I have are here, and tomorrow they'll be going home." As she said the words, tears formed in her eyes. Thinking about this was letting all of her emotions loose causing them to swirl up inside her. _

_He could clearly see how she was feeling. Over the years he had known her, he had grown to understand her and read her very well. Noticing her mood he got up off the floor where he had been sitting and sat next to her. _

"_It's alright." He said, putting his arm around her. "Don't cry."_

_She eventually looked up at him, hooked into his gaze. Her face was still wet from the tears, so she quickly wiped her face with her hand before speaking. _

_After a small silence she said, "You want to know something?" _

"_Yeah what?" Hawkeye answered, he was curious to know what she was going to say._

"_I'll miss you." she answered then added as if to justify her words, "And the others too. You guys have become my family and my friends."_

"_I'll miss everyone too. A lot." Hawkeye replied._

_Tears started to form in her eyes again, thinking about missing everyone was hard, and it saddened her to the point of tears. _

_He took his other arm and embraced her in a hug. She was thankful. She needed his support, because she felt she didn't have anywhere else to get it from. _

_When they broke the hug Hawkeye put his hands on the top of her arms and kissed her forehead. She smiled in reply and then kissed him back. _

'That,' she thought remembering back, 'was the beginning of the guilt I've been carrying all these years.'

**So, what do you think? Is it good enough for more? Reviews are welcomed! Thanks :)**


	2. Options and a phone call

_Here is is everyone, sorry about the wait. I went back to uni this week so I haven't had much time to work on this. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 2: Options and a phone call**

Thinking about their last night in Korea made Margaret consider her options. She knew she had to tell Hawkeye eventually, for both their sakes and their daughter's. She did not want their daughter to grow up without having known her father.

Margaret wasn't really sure where to start in her search for Hawkeye, although she figured he would still be in Crabapple Cove living with his father. But she felt that travelling to Maine would be impulsive and could turn out to be a waste of time if Hawkeye wasn't there anymore. So Margaret decided she would contact some of the other members of the 4077th in hope that they would give her an idea of where Hawkeye lived. She figured she'd start with BJ as he and Hawkeye were bound to have kept in touch all these years.

The next morning Margaret woke to the ringing of the phone, she rushed down and answered it.

"Hello" she said.

"Hello Margaret, it's great to hear your voice again you're a very hard person to get a hold of. It's Sherman Potter."

"Colonel, how are you?" Margaret asked.

"Margaret, drop the Colonel. We're not in Korea anymore call me Sherman. I'm just fine. Retirement is great." Sherman replied.

"That's wonderful. And how is Mrs. Potter?" Margaret asked.

"She's great too. Very pleased to have me home for good." Sherman replied. "Now Margaret the reason I called is some of the folks from the four oh seventy-seven are organising a reunion."

"A reunion?" Margaret asked.

"Yeah, a little get together at Hunnicutt's place." Sherman said. "Will we see you there?"

Margaret wasn't sure how she felt about a reunion especially with the situation with her daughter. But she knew that this would be an opportunity to tell Hawkeye about their daughter, at least she would be able to find him easily.

"Yes you will. When is it?" Margaret finally answered.

"It's on the 25th and 26th of this month." Sherman replied.

That was a week away, at least that would give her time to think about what she was going to do. How she was going to explain all of this to Hawkeye.

"Ok, I'll see you then." Margaret said.

"Bye Margaret." Sherman said.

"Bye sir." Margaret answered.

"Drop the sir Margaret, it's just Sherman now." Sherman replied.

"Oh sorry Sherman, see you at the reunion." Margaret said. It felt odd to call the Colonel Sherman, but she guessed he wouldn't have it any other way, so she'd have to get used to it.

"Goodbye Margaret." Sherman said and hung up the phone.

oooooooo

Margaret was feeling apprehensive about the reunion, it was only a few days away now and she was wondering what she was going to tell Hawkeye. She was considering not going, but she was sure that the others, especially Sherman would track her down and make her come. She didn't really want everyone to know about her situation with her daughter, her problems were no one's business but her own.

Margaret looked at her daughter. Then picked up a photo of Hawkeye, he was smiling like he always did, cheekily and childlike. It made Margaret love him and her daughter even more. Looking at back and forward at her daughter and the photograph Margaret saw her daughter had the same thick black hair and beautiful deep blue eyes that showed so much emotion and expression. But she had her mother's body shape. Margaret felt she was being a bit naïve about no one else finding out, as her daughter was the spitting image of her father. It would be hard but she was hoping that Hawkeye would understand why she did what she did.

**So, what did you think? Please review! In the next chapter Margaret looks back...**


	3. What happened next

_Here's chapter 3! Enjoy_

**Chapter 3: What happened next. **

**  
**_The next morning Margaret awoke to find herself still laying next to Hawkeye. She was afraid of what would come of what they had done. She hoped that no one else knew what had happened. Looking over at both BJ and Charles' bunks she thought about getting up and quietly going back to her tent, as she didn't really want anyone else to see her laying in Hawkeye's bunk in her state, especially one of those two. She pulled the covers up to her neck to cover herself and lent down to grab her dressing gown, it was laying next to Hawkeye's bunk. She carefully got up and wrapped the gown around her. Then picked up the rest of her clothes and quietly exited the tent, walking back to her own. Luckily it was still early in the morning, so no one would be out in the compound to see her walking back to her tent, from the Swamp, carrying her clothes and dressed only in a dressing gown. _

_Not long after Margaret had left, Hawkeye woke up. He looked over to BJ's bed and then to Charles' luckily they were still asleep. Then he looked around for signs of Margaret, clearly seeing she had left he sat up to find his clothes. They were, as Margaret's had been, on the floor in a messy pile. He reached for his dressing gown, which was hanging where it usually did, next to his bunk. As he did this he made enough noise to wake BJ. _

"_Hawk, what are you doing?" BJ asked still half asleep._

"_Nothing, go back to sleep Beej." Hawkeye replied._

_Later that morning Margaret spotted Hawkeye sitting, starring at his breakfast in the Mess Tent. She figured he was decided whether or not to eat it, as it looked even less appetising than usual. She walked in the direction of his table and sat down across from him, and acted as if nothing happened between them. Which is what she wanted everyone to think, she did not want the whole camp finding out about what happened the night before. _

"_Morning." She said, sitting down._

_Hawkeye looked up from his tray and answered, "Oh, good morning Margaret."_

"_You going to try the eggs this morning?" Margaret asked. "I' m not sure if I'm up to it, they look more like soup than eggs." _

"_Yeah I don't think I want to put my stomach through hell like that. Eggs that have to be eaten through a straw are not for me." Hawkeye replied. _

_A few moments later, BJ sat down next to Hawkeye and said, "I see you went for the eggs, brave move." _

"_Morning Beej." Hawkeye said._

"_What was with all that noise this morning?" BJ said, "I was happily in the land of nod then woke up only to hear you fumbling around for your robe." _

"_Oh, sorry about that Beej. I should have been quieter." Hawkeye replied. _

"_Don't worry about it." BJ answered. "So how are you this morning Margaret?" he asked, changing the subject. _

"_I'm fine." Margaret answered simply. "I think I'm going to go now, I don't think my stomach can take anymore of this slop they call eggs." _

"_See you later Margaret." BJ said._

"_Yeah, see you later." Hawkeye replied. _

_Margaret nodded and walked out. Leaving BJ and Hawkeye to themselves. _

"_So you gonna tell me why you were up before the sun?" BJ asked._

"_What?" Hawkeye asked then he thought for a moment and said, "Oh that, don't worry Beej I just woke up early for a change." _

"_Come on Hawk I know you, you don't expect me to believe you woke up that early by choice do you?" BJ asked then said, "No one here gets up that early, it's still yesterday at that hour." _

"_I'm sorry Beej I just don't think the Mess Tent is the place to be talking about what I was doing up that early." Hawkeye answered._

_BJ could see Hawkeye didn't want to talk about it with other people around. He had a slight suspicion as to what had happened. He knew that there was only one person who made Hawkeye avoid the question like he was now. He didn't want to push him so he decided to let it go for now and wait. Hawkeye would tell him in his own time._

**So what do you think? Please review:) Next chapter, the reunion...**


	4. Reunion, Part 1

_A/N: Here it is, the reunion. I think all of you were hanging out for this chapter, so I decided to post it quickly. It's also quite a bit longer than the previous ones. Oh and I think most of you know by now I'm Australian, so forgive my spelling of 'mum' but that's how we spell it and it is too weird for me to spell it with an 'o'. Also some of the words I have used maybe different also, so bear with me. Thanks and enjoy the chapter. _

**Chapter 4: Reunion, Part 1.**

It was the morning of the reunion and Margaret was on her way to California. She was becoming increasingly nervous now, every time she looked at her daughter she was thinking how Hawkeye was going to react.

oooooooooo

Margaret walked out of the airport with her bag in one hand on one side and her daughter walking beside her holding her hand on the other side. He daughter was excited to meet all her mum's friends from Korea. She had heard a little about them from her mum, but only with excessive pleading did she get anything out of her at all. Margaret didn't like to remember Korea, even though the people there were, at the time the most important people in her life. Talking about the people made her remember the mistakes she made by not telling Hawkeye about their daughter.

Margaret and her daughter walked over to their rental car and put their bags in the boot. Margaret then got into the driver's side and her daughter on the other side. This was it they were on their way to BJ's house, to face up to her mistake.

oooooooooo

After about an hour or so of driving Margaret pulled up in front of BJ's house. The house was beautiful. It was a light shade of green with a porch at the front that had a small set of stairs in the middle to get onto it. The garden was very nice also it had a garden bed to the left with a few small trees and some small bushes with beautiful coloured flowers growing on them. The garden bed was surrounded with rocks.

After a moment of admiring BJ and Peg's lovely house Margaret took a deep breath and stepped out of the car and instructing her daughter to do the same. She walked around the back of the car and opened the boot to get their bags out. Then they walked up to the door and rang the door bell. Margaret felt like she had a butterfly collection loose in her stomach, she was very apprehensive now.

Seconds later Peg answered the door. "Hello, you must be Margaret, come in. And who is this? Is this your daughter?" Peg asked, gesturing for the first arrivals to come inside.

"Yes it is." Margaret answered.

"She's beautiful." Peg told Margaret then she asked Margaret's daughter, "What's your name?"

"My name is Katherine, but everyone calls me Katie." She answered.

"Nice to meet you Katie, how old are you?" Peg asked.

"I'm seven." Answered Katie.

"I have a daughter who is nine, her name's Erin maybe you two can play together." Peg said.

Katie smiled and nodded. "That would be great."

Margaret and Katie followed Peg out to the back yard where BJ was cooking on the barbeque. Peg took Katie off to find Erin and Margaret went over to say hello to BJ.

"BJ." Margaret said.

"Hello Margaret." BJ said coming out from behind the barbeque. "How are you?" he asked.

"I'm really good. How about you?" Margaret asked.

"Terrific. Erin is nine now, can you believe it?" BJ answered.

"Yeah Peg said. She took Katie over to play with her." Margaret answered.

"Is that your daughter?" BJ asked.

"Yes it is." Margaret answered. "She's just turned seven."

"So you got married?" BJ asked.

"No. I didn't." Margaret answered.

"Oh ok." BJ could see he was treading on thin ice with this subject so he left it there.

"BJ!" Came Peg's voice. "More people are here. It's Sherman and Mildred."

"Come on Margaret let's go see them." BJ said.

Margaret followed BJ into the house to see Sherman and Mildred.

"Margaret, BJ. It's so nice to see you." Sherman said. "This is the missus." he added.

"Hello Margaret and BJ. It's nice to finally meet you both, Sherman thinks a lot of you and talks about you often." Mildred said.

"It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Potter." Margaret said.

"Oh please dear it's Mildred." Mildred answered.

"Nice to meet you Mildred." BJ said.

BJ led the guests out to the back yard where they had set up some tables and chairs. And he encouraged them to sit down.

"I have to get back to the food." BJ said, remembering his barbeque.

Margaret, Sherman and Mildred sat down at the table when BJ went back to his barbeque. Peg came out with a bowl of salad and Margaret asked.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No, no you just sit here and enjoy yourself." Peg answered.

"Are you sure?" Asked Margaret.

"Yes, you're the guest here, you enjoy yourself. Leave the rest to me." Peg answered.

Before anyone else could say something the doorbell rang again.

"BJ dear, it's Hawkeye." Peg called.

'There goes that butterfly collection again.' Margaret thought as she and the others got up to see Hawkeye.

"Hawk! It's great to see ya." BJ said.

"Likewise, but I see you still look like a baboon! You haven't removed that hideous moustache!" Hawkeye answered.

"Oh he will. Won't you darling?" Peg answered.

"No never." BJ answered. "I happen to love it."

"Yeah you're the only one Beej." Hawkeye answered.

BJ just laughed in reply.

After Hawkeye had been introduced to Mildred and said hello to Sherman. He saw Margaret.

"Margaret!" He said hugging her. "How have you been. I haven't heard from you in years."

"I've been great." Margaret answered simply.

"Come on Margaret I haven't seen or heard from you in years is that all you have for me?" Hawkeye asked.

"Come on let's go outside." BJ said.

Everyone followed BJ outside and sat down.

Hawkeye sat next to Margaret because he wasn't satisfied that he didn't get an answer out of her.

"Come on Margaret tell me, what have you been doing?" Hawkeye asked. And as he did Katie walked up to Margaret.

"Hello sweat heart are you having fun playing with Erin?" Margaret asked her daughter, ignoring Hawkeye.

"Yes I have, Erin is very nice." Katie answered.

"Come on Katie let's go." Erin called.

"She's going to show me some of her dolls." Katie answered.

"That's great, go on then. Have fun." Margaret said.

Hawkeye looked at Margaret and said. "Hmm so you've been making babies ay Margaret. Who's the father?"

Margaret looked at him for a moment then said, "Hawkeye why don't we go inside."

"Good idea." Hawkeye replied.

Once they went inside they walked into the lounge room, away from everyone.

"So, you gonna why your daughter is an exact copy of me?" Hawkeye asked.

"What are you talking about?" Margaret asked, avoiding the truth.

"Come on Margaret don't give me that. You know very well what I'm talking about." Hawkeye replied, his voice becoming slightly raised.

"She looks like you because she's your daughter." Margaret said, still feeling like she had a million butterflies loose in her stomach.

**I know I know, but I had to leave it there, the chapter would have been twice as long if I hadn't stopped there. :P Anyway in the next chapter: Hawkeye's reaction and more arrivals. Please review! They mean so much. :) Thanks. **


	5. Reunion, Part 2

_Here it is everyone, chapter 5. Sorry about the wait, I've been busy at uni this week. I hope you enjoy the chapter. :)_

**Chapter 5: Reunion, Part 2**

For a few minutes Hawkeye just stood there with a stunned look on his face. Then he finally said, "Mine? She's mine?"

Margaret didn't know how to continue because Hawkeye had answered very plainly and she didn't know how he felt about it. This made things more complicated for her. Noticing Hawkeye's look of disbelief and shock Margaret finally said, "Why don't you sit down."

"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea." Hawkeye said, sitting down on the couch. Margaret sat next to him. "I have a daughter" Hawkeye said again, trying to grasp the situation and hope that it would sink in.

Then he added, "How is it that I don't know?"

"Because I didn't tell you. That's why." Margaret answered.

"Why Margaret? Why didn't you tell me?" Hawkeye asked. "I would think I have a right to know, after all I was there during the creation, she is a part of me." he added.

"I was afraid." Margaret answered simply.

Hawkeye looked at her with a confused look on his face, "Afraid?" he asked, "What were you afraid of?"

"I was afraid of you." Margaret answered.

"Of me? Why?" Hawkeye asked.

"Because I didn't know how you would handle it. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to care for her. Because of what happened to you." Margaret said.

"Right, Margaret why don't you start from the beginning. When did all of this happen exactly?" Hawkeye said, starting to understand although to him it was still a little cloudy. Then he added, "I mean about how we managed to conceive a child."

"Ok." Margaret said taking a deep breath, "Remember the night before we said goodbye?" she asked.

Hawkeye stopped and thought about Margaret's question for a while and then he recalled the moment and said in a similar tone to that morning in the abandoned hut, "Oh yeah."

"Yeah, that's when all this started. I didn't know it at the time but I found out a few months later when my stomach grew and grew that I was pregnant. I figured it had to be yours as you were the last one I was with. And it all fit." Margaret explained. "And I was sure you were the father when she was born, as she is a spitting image of you; no one in my family has such dark hair as yours."

Hawkeye put his head in his hands and rubbed his face. Then he looked up at Margaret and starred at her with a look that said, 'what do we do now.'

"Are you going to say anything, or just sit there and stare at me?" Margaret asked. She was becoming frustrated with his silence but she could see he needed time to get used to the news of suddenly knowing he was a father.

"What can I say? I don't know how to feel about this. I don't know who this girl is and she doesn't know who I am." Hawkeye answered.

"But she will. At least I hope she will, she deserves to know her father. It's not fair for her grow up without knowing and having a father." Margaret said.

"Well she's already seven. She hasn't had a father for seven years. If you wanted her to grow up with a father why did you wait so long to tell her father about her?" Hawkeye asked.

"I don't know. Like I said before I was afraid, afraid of how you would take it." Margaret answered.

"I understand. But is that any reason to keep me in the dark?" Hawkeye asked.

Margaret was feeling a little frustrated at herself and at Hawkeye. She was frustrated at herself for not telling him sooner, because as he said, she should have told him earlier in Katie's life. She was frustrated at him for being right, every time he was reminded her of how wrong it was to have kept him in the dark.

"No it wasn't. I should have told you earlier. And you're right it hasn't been fair on Katie to have lived without a father for the past seven years. But what can I do about it? It's the past. I can't change what I did, can't you just accept that?" Margaret said.

"Margaret it's hard for me to understand why you did what you did. I mean I would think that if I was you I would want to tell me about this." Hawkeye said in reply to Margaret's question.

"Don't you think I wanted to? Don't you think that every time I looked at Katie that I thought of you and what I had done, or rather not done. I really wanted to Hawkeye, I was just too afraid of what you would do. I mean I don't even know where you've been all these years and I don't know how you handled your problems with children after coming home. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't consider how you would feel?" Margaret explained, her voice had a slight anger to it as well as a sadness and disappointment for what she had done.

"I know, you're right." Hawkeye said, then added, "I'm sorry Margaret, I should have considered the toll this must have taken on you all these years."

Margaret was starting to calm down now. She could see that Hawkeye was starting to understand why she didn't tell him. She looked at him and said, "So, where do we go from here."

"I don't know where we go now." Hawkeye said. "How's Katie going to react to all this. I mean all of a sudden she has a father? I don't know how well that's going to go down." he added.

"She'll be alright, she has asked about you before. But I never said anything, I wasn't sure if I would ever see you again to tell you so I didn't know what to tell her." Margaret replied.

"Ok if you say so Margaret. You know her better than I do." Hawkeye said, he could understand Margaret's motives for not saying anything to Katie but he couldn't help think that he was being left out of her life on purpose. But by contrast he knew how Margaret reacted to things like this, she covered the truth up by dismissing the problem as if it wasn't a big deal. However Hawkeye knew this didn't always work and it would eventually get the better of her. "What are you going to tell her?" Hawkeye added.

"I don't know. I haven't actually given that a great deal of thought. I was too focused on dealing with how you would react to it and I forgot about how Katie would react." Margaret answered.

"Well we'll have to think of something." Hawkeye said, "here she comes now." he added.

**Next chapter: How will Katie react when she finds out who her father is? Please review! They mean so much:) Thanks. **


	6. Katie

**Chapter 6: Katie**

"Hello sweetheart did you and Erin have fun playing with her dolls?" Margaret asked, picking Katie up and sitting her on her lap.

"Yes we did it was fun. Erin has some pretty dolls. We dressed them up and they went to a ball." Katie answered, with a big smile on her face.

"That's great." Margaret said then she thought about Hawkeye sitting there so she asked, "Sweetie, do you remember when you asked Mummy about Daddy?"

"Yes." Katie answered nodding her head, "I remember."

"Remember how you said you wanted to meet him?" Margaret asked.

Katie nodded.

"Well, that's him." Margaret said, pointing to Hawkeye. Who had now moved to another chair, opposite the couch.

"It is." Katie replied. She was slightly surprised, she certainly hadn't expected that when she came over to her Mummy.

"Yeah it is. He wants to meet you too. Why don't you go and say hello." Margaret suggested.

Katie hopped off Margaret's lap and walked over to Hawkeye and said, "Hello. Mummy said you are my Daddy, is that true?" she asked.

"Hello." Hawkeye replied. "Yes that's right I am." he added.

"How come I never met you before?" Katie asked.

Hawkeye was shocked at how direct children could be. They always seemed to get right to the point and not cover things up like adults do. Katie's question was very difficult to answer seeing as he had just found out she existed only a few minutes ago. After some though he answered, "Because I live a long way from you and Mummy."

"Why didn't you visit us?" Katie asked. "Is it too far away?"

"Yes, I live in Maine. That's over the other side of the country." Hawkeye answered.

"Wow that's a long way from my house. How will you live with me and Mummy if you live all the way over there?" Katie asked.

"I don't know. Maybe you should ask Mummy." Hawkeye replied. He was finding it more and more difficult to answer Katie's questions without Margaret's help. And without having talked to Margaret about where they go from here. He hoped she could help him with Katie's questions.

Margaret came over and sat beside Hawkeye and Katie and answered, "Sweetie, Mummy and Daddy have to talk about this with each other first. Do you want to go and find Erin, I'm sure she's wondering where you went and wants you to come back and play with her."

"Ok Mummy." Katie answered, easily accepting Margaret's answer. This was something else that amazed Hawkeye about children, with just a simple answer they would be satisfied enough not to keep asking questions.

"That's Mummy's girl. Have fun sweetie." Margaret said, kissing Katie on the head.

Katie left the room to go and find Erin. This left Hawkeye and Margaret to talk about what they were going to do now.

"She's an amazing kid Margaret." Hawkeye said after a moment of silence.

"Thankyou." Margaret answered.

"She's got a point Margaret, what are we going to do now?" Hawkeye asked.

"I don't know. I really don't know." Margaret answered.

"We have to think of something." Hawkeye said.

"I know. But I don't know if this is the right place to be talking about this." Margaret answered.

"We have to deal with it sometime Margaret. You can't just keep putting it off all the time. You know how hard that is." Hawkeye replied.

"I know. So, what are we going to do?" Margaret asked. "Katie deserves to have a father around." she added.

"I know, I'm just not so sure I can cope with that Margaret. I mean that's a pretty big life change don't you think?" Hawkeye answered.

"It is but think of Katie, she wants you in her life." Margaret replied.

"I know she does and that's what makes this thing so difficult." Hawkeye said.

"Well maybe you could come and live with us for a while." Margaret suggested.

"What and just leave my father and my life?" Hawkeye replied. He was a little angry at Margaret for suggesting that he could just drop everything and forget about his life and what he wanted. He never really pictured himself having a baby. He had always liked them, he had some fond memories of babies. He thought back to when Margaret thought she was pregnant while they were in Korea, he was so excited for her and to have a new life in a place filled with so much death. Then he remembered the little Amerasian baby that was left at the 4077th she had given a little life back into everyone, and they all felt great joy for this baby. 'I wonder what happened to her?' he thought. Before he could think about the painful memories involving babies Margaret's voice shot him back into reality.

"Sorry." Margaret said, noticing the anger in his voice, "I should have thought about that. It's just that we haven't really built up a life, it's just been too hard."

"Do you want to come to Maine then?" Hawkeye suggested. He knew it would be a big life change but he also knew he didn't want Katie to live any more years without her father, even if he wasn't perfect.

Margaret was surprised by Hawkeye's suggestion. But she also knew she wanted Katie to be happy and Margaret herself wanted to be happy too, she just wasn't sure if she could find that happiness she desired with Hawkeye. But she figured she had nothing to loose so she said accepting his offer, "Ok. I guess we can try that. I just want Katie to be happy."

"Ok then." Hawkeye said. "Shall we go and rejoin the party then?" he asked.

"Sure." Margaret said, following him out to the backyard where everyone, including some new arrivals were sitting.

"Hello you two, we were starting to wonder where you went." Sherman said.

"It's alright we're still here." Margaret answered.

All the food was spread out on the table, ready for the guests to help themselves. Sherman was sitting next to Mildred and BJ and Peg were next to them, followed by Klinger and Soon-Lee, Radar and Patty, Charles, and Father Mulcahy.

"Wow we've obviously missed a lot." Hawkeye said, looking around at all the new arrivals.

**Next: Everyone starts to notice how much Katie looks like her parents, what will happen if they find out she's Hawkeye and Margaret's daughter? Stay tuned! Please review, they make my day:) Thanks. **


	7. Answers

**Chapter 7: Answers**

After the pleasantries had been exchanged both Hawkeye and Margaret sat down with the others. A few of the ex-4077th members were doing double takes when they saw Katie come over and sit down with Erin at the children's table. But no one said anything.

BJ remembered back to that morning in the Mess Tent. He had suspected something had gone on between Hawk and Margaret but he never said anything. At the time Hawkeye hadn't either, but BJ had anticipated that.

Some of the newer arrivals, who did not yet know about Katie being Margaret's daughter were starting to get curious. Klinger was the first to ask anything about Katie. He was curious to know who the parents were so he leaned over to Sherman and asked, "Sherman," Klinger had already been told by the ex-Colonel to cut the 'sir' and 'colonel' when they talked to him, "Who's daughter is that? She looks a lot like Hawkeye? Is she his?" he asked.

Sherman answered, "No, I think she's Margaret's daughter. But she does look an awful lot like Hawkeye doesn't she."

"Did she say who the father was?" Klinger asked.

"No, I don't believe she did." Sherman said, "But I think she'll tell us when she's ready, you know how she is." he added.

Klinger nodded in reply.

After lunch had been finished and the dishes cleared away everyone came and sat on the Hunnicutt's back veranda.

Katie had been playing out on the grass with Erin for about half an hour before they decided to join their parents and their friends. Katie walked over to her Dad and asked him if she could sit on his lap. He replied, "Sure thing, you can sit up on my knee."

Margaret was relieved that Katie and her Dad were getting on so well. She had felt so uneasy about the whole situation for so long so she was glad it turned out well for all three of them. She could see that Katie loved having a dad around. And he obviously loved having her around. He was still getting used to it but Margaret could see that he would be just fine with having her around.

"Hawkeye she is your daughter?" Soon-Lee asked.

Hawkeye looked at her, he hadn't expected that, then he looked at Margaret and back at Soon-Lee and replied, "Yes she is."

"She is beautiful little girl." Soon-Lee answered.

"Thank you." Hawkeye responded. "She's very special to me."

Hawkeye's comment reassured Margaret greatly. She now knew that even though it was wrong to have waited seven years to tell Hawkeye about Katie, she had done the right thing by telling him. She could see he loved her dearly and wanted the very best for her, even if he hadn't been able to give it to her in her first seven years of life.

Klinger over heard Soon-Lee's question and turned to Hawkeye and asked, "Is she your daughter Hawkeye?"

"Yes Klinger, she is. Her name's Katie." Hawkeye replied.

"She's very sweet Hawkeye. Who is her mother?" Klinger asked.

"Margaret is her mother." Hawkeye answered simply. He decided there was no use in hiding the fact any longer. It was bound to come out sooner or later.

"Major Houlihan is her mother? And you are her father how come you never said anything before?" Klinger asked in slight shock. He hadn't known anything about Hawkeye and Margaret's relationship, even back in Korea. No one had ever told him anything about it, so this came as quite a surprise to him.

"Yeah Margaret is the mother. Hey, I only found out I was the father earlier on today, I didn't even know myself until then." Hawkeye replied.

Sherman overheard Klinger and Hawkeye's conversation and said, "zipididy-do-dah! She's yours! I knew she looked to much like you to be a coincidence! You must be very proud she seems like a great little girl! But what I wanna know is why you didn't tell us before?"

By now everyone had caught on to what was happening, Sherman's excitement had not gone unnoticed.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't know until before when Margaret told me." Hawkeye replied.

"You fink! I knew something happened with you two that morning!" BJ said, he had caught on to what they were all talking about.

"What?" Hawkeye said, not catching his reference to that last morning in the Mess Tent.

"That morning in the Mess Tent you said you didn't want to tell me why you were up before normal people and that was why you were otherwise occupied weren't you?" BJ replied.

"Oh ya got me there Beej. I should have told you before." Hawkeye replied.

"Daddy, why is everyone asking about me?" Katie asked. She was wondering why everyone was suddenly making such a fuss of her.

Before Hawkeye answered Margaret pitched in and said, "Everyone just wants to meet you sweetie."

"But why?" Katie asked.

"Why wouldn't someone want to get to know you sweetie." Margaret answered.

"You're really wonderful with her Margaret and so are you Hawkeye, she seems like a wonderful little girl. And from what I can see, a lot like her parents!" Sherman said.

"Thank you sir." Margaret answered.

"Margaret…" Sherman began.

"Oh I'm sorry, Thank you Sherman." She said, correcting herself.

"There that's better." Sherman said laughing. "So how old is Katie?"

"She's seven." Margaret replied.

"Seven, wow. I remember when our grandson Cory was seven. He was such an active kid. Used to wear everyone out just by looking at 'em!" Everyone laughed at Sherman's comment. "Course he's grown up since then. Fine young man he is." he added.

"How come you didn't know Hawkeye, I would've thought you'd be proud to have a little girl of your own what happened?"

"Margaret thought I wouldn't be able to handle children. She didn't know how I'd react, she had no idea if I'd fully recovered from Korea. She decided to do what she thought was best." Hawkeye said, "But if you really want to know, why don't you ask her?" he added.

Margaret heard Hawkeye's comment and answered before Sherman could ask. "I was afraid. As Hawkeye said I didn't know how he would handle it. I was afraid for Katie."

"I think I get the picture. I'm just glad that Margaret changed her mind and told you today." Sherman replied.

"I'm glad she did too." Hawkeye said.

Margaret smiled at Hawkeye's reply. She was confidant now that telling Hawkeye today was the right thing to do. She was very pleased that he was getting along so well with Katie. And Katie seemed to love him just as much, it was true what the others had been saying, she was a lot like her parents, not just in her looks either. She now knew that the three of them would be alright and Katie was going to have not just a mother that loved and adored her, but a father as well, this more than anything was what pleased Margaret.

**Next: The end of the reunion and plans to go to Maine. Please review. I love them. They make my day! Thanks :)**


	8. Au Revoir

**Chapter 8: Au revoir **

It was late afternoon, bordering on early evening when the 4077th MASH reunion party began to break up. Each member had places to be within the next few days. They all felt like they didn't want it to end. They felt it was like saying goodbye back in Korea all over again.

Despite the initial awkward atmosphere the reunion had gone along smoothly. Even Hawkeye and Margaret's personal reunion. But as they say all good things must come to an end and this is what was happening now. It was time to say goodbye once again, but hopefully not for too long, to the 4077th gang. Everyone had enjoyed seeing each other again, they all felt it was nice to catch up with people who you really know and who really know you. The bond the 4077th gang shared between them was strong and they all knew it was special.

As much as they didn't want to leave, Klinger and Soon-Lee were the first to say their goodbyes.

"It was really great to see all you guys again. You guys are the best." Klinger said.

"We sure are Klinger, the finest kind." Hawkeye replied, hugging his old friend.

Klinger let out a laugh at Hawkeye's comment. "Thanks Hawkeye."

"See you later son. It was a real boost to see you and Soon-Lee again." Sherman said.

Klinger smiled at his former C.O and said in reply, "Thank you, Sherman."

"Thank you for great party BJ." Soon-Lee told BJ "I had great time."

"You're welcome Soon-Lee. I'm glad you and Klinger enjoyed yourselves. If you are every back this way, come and see us, we'd love to have you." BJ replied. "That goes for all of you. Don't be strangers." he added.

Radar and Patty were the next to leave, it was just as hard saying goodbye to the 4077th's former Company Clerk as it had been to Klinger. Radar was someone who everyone should know. Everyone was also pleased that Radar had found a lovely wife, this pleased Hawkeye greatly as he had often been called on by Radar to give advice on women. He felt great joy that Radar had found someone who he could love and have love him.

"Goodbye Walter." Sherman said, using the retired clerk's real name.

"Goodbye sir." Radar said, seeing the look on Sherman's face he added, "I mean Sherman."

Sherman chuckled, "That's better. Goodbye son. And goodbye Patty."

"Goodbye Sherman, it was nice to meet you." Patty replied.

"Same goes. I'm tickled pink Walter found such a lovely wife." Sherman answered.

"Thankyou I love him very much." Patty answered.

Radar walked over to Hawkeye and said, "See ya Hawkeye. It was real nice to see you again. I'm sure glad things are ok with you and your daughter."

"Thanks Radar." Hawkeye said, smiling at his friend.

"Goodbye Radar." Margaret said, "It was nice to see you again and to meet your lovely wife."

"Thank you Major. That's real nice of you." Radar answered.

"Radar it's just Margaret now." Margaret said.

"Oh right sorry Major…Uh I mean Margaret." Radar replied.

Margaret laughed at the former clerk. "See ya." she said.

Father Mulcahy was the next to leave.

"See ya Father. It was nice catching up." BJ said. "Feel free to drop by anytime you're in the area." he added.

"Thank you BJ. I will. Thank you for a wonderful afternoon. It was great to see you all again." Father Mulcahy said.

"Thankyou Father, give my best to your sister." Sherman said.

"I will. Thankyou Sherman." answered Father Mulcahy.

Charles followed Father Mulcahy's lead and was the next to leave.

"This afternoon was rather enjoyable, although I didn't expect it to be. Thank you BJ." Charles said.

"I'll just take that as a complement Charles." BJ answered.

"Of course, that's how I meant it." Charles replied.

"Goodbye all." Charles said as he left the Hunnicutt's house.

"He's quite guy. Even with all that fancy schooling and great surgical technique he can still find it in him to be an aristocratic snob." Sherman said, laughing. "Well boys and girls I think it's time I said my au revoirs. You folks are the best bunch of friends a guy can have. It's been a real pleasure to see you all again. Best of luck to you Hawkeye and Margaret and you too Katie." he added.

"Thank you Sherman. It's been great to see you and Mildred too." BJ said.

"Same goes Sherm. Thanks." Hawkeye said.

"Thankyou Sherman. I've really enjoyed seeing you again. And meeting your wife too." Margaret said.

"Thanks guys." Sherman said.

Of the guests who had attended the party only Hawkeye and Margaret were left.

"Look, I know how tough it is for you to say goodbye, so I'll say it." Hawkeye said to BJ.

BJ smiled, catching his reference. "Thanks Hawk. It was great seeing you again." he said.

"Goodbye BJ. It was great to see you." Margaret said.

"You too Margaret. I'm glad everything is ok with you." BJ answered.

"Thanks BJ." Margaret said in reply.

**I know it's short but I thought it was best to leave it there for this chapter. In the next chapter Katie meets her Grandpa. Please Review, they make my day! Thanks:) The next chapter should be up soon. As I've already planned out the last chapters. :)**

**A/N: I used Au Revoir instead of Goodbye because of it's literal meaning. It literally means "Until we see each other again" so I thought that was less final than Goodbye and it's nice too. :) **


	9. Meeting Grandpa

**Chapter 9: Meeting Grandpa**

After a long flight that seemed like it would never end Margaret, Hawkeye and Katie arrived in Maine.

Katie was going to meet her grandpa for the first time, she was very excited, her parents on the other hand were a little apprehensive, especially her mother. Hawkeye wasn't as worried about Katie meeting his dad as Margaret was. He thought his dad would react in much the same way as he had, he could picture his father falling in love with Katie the minute he saw her. Hawkeye felt that this wasn't hard as Katie had a face that you couldn't say no to. This is how he had been pulled in and he was sure his dad would be the same.

After waiting around for about half an hour at the airport for their bags Hawkeye, Margaret and Katie began the drive to see Daniel.

"Margaret are you sure you know where you're going?" Hawkeye asked. He was convinced he should be driving as he had grown up in Maine and knew this part of the state as well as he knew the back of his hand.

"Yes, yes I'm sure." Margaret insisted.

"Alright, don't mind me I just grew up here what do I know?" Hawkeye retorted.

"Would you stop that?" Margaret said, her voice insistent.

"What? Giving my opinion?" Hawkeye answered.

"No, being a smart ass." Margaret replied.

"Are we there yet?" Katie asked from the back seat of the rental car. She had, without realising it herself, just stopped her parents from getting into an argument.

Margaret answered, "No, but it's not far now sweetie."

"Ok. Are you sure?" Katie asked. She was as persistent as her mother.

"Yes sweetie, we'll be there soon." Margaret replied.

ooooooooooooo

About half and hour later Margaret, Hawkeye and Katie arrived at Hawkeye and Daniel's house. The house was beautiful. The style was typical of the area. It had a large veranda coming off the front and a small set of stairs at each end, allowing access from either side of the house.

"See sweetie that didn't take long did it?" Margaret said as Katie climbed out of the car.

Katie shook her head in reply.

"Let's go inside Margaret. Dad should be waiting for us." Hawkeye said.

They made their way up the driveway to the house, Hawkeye was right, Daniel was waiting for them.

"Dad!" Hawkeye yelled with excitement.

"How are you Ben?" Daniel said in reply. "Who's the pretty lady huh Ben?"

"Cut it out Dad she's too young for you. This is Margaret Houlihan, the 4077th's ex-head nurse." Hawkeye replied.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Pierce." Margaret said.

"Please, honey it's Daniel." Daniel replied. "And who is this lovely little girl?" he asked.

"This is your granddaughter, Katie." Hawkeye replied.

Daniel smiled with amusement as if his son was joking around with him and said, "My granddaughter, I don't have a granddaughter Hawk."

"Yes you do Dad." Hawkeye replied.

"I have a granddaughter? Since when?" Daniel asked. "Last time I checked my son wasn't married and didn't have a daughter has something changed and I don't know about it?" he added.

"Well she's seven, so you've actually had a granddaughter for seven years, but I only found out at the reunion when Margaret told me." Hawkeye replied.

"Wow. Hawk. That's great. So I'm guessing Margaret here is her mother?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah she is. I'm glad you're ok with this." Hawkeye said. "Margaret was very worried that you wouldn't be. But I thought you would, I was won over by her, I was sure you would be too and it looks like I was right." added.

"Why would I be worried. I'm thrilled to be a grandfather." Daniel answered. "Well now that that's over how would you guys like to come inside?" he asked.

"Thanks Dad." Hawkeye said.

"No worries Hawk." Daniel answered. "Here Margaret, let me take those from you." he said.

"Thankyou Daniel." Margaret said, handing over the bags and taking Katie inside.

"Anything for my daughter in law." Daniel replied.

Margaret turned around suddenly and answered, "We're not married."

"Oh sorry. I just assumed." Daniel replied.

"It's alright." Margaret answered.

"I'll just put these away shall I?" Daniel asked, taking the bags away.

When Daniel had gone to put the bags away Hawkeye came over to Margaret and asked, "You alright? You look a bit down."

"No, I'm fine." Margaret answered then, seeing the look on Hawkeye's face that said he didn't believe her she added, "Really Hawkeye I'm fine."

"Ok Margaret." Hawkeye said, leaving it there.

"Why are you giving up so easily?" Margaret asked.

"What?" Hawkeye asked.

Margaret repeated the question, "Why are you giving up so easily? Usually you hound me with questions until I give you the answer you want. Why is now different?" she asked.

"If you say there's nothing wrong there's nothing wrong. I just don't want to make a big deal out of our problems in front of Dad and Katie." Hawkeye answered.

"Problems? I wasn't aware we were having problems." Margaret said.

"This is what I'm talking about Margaret. Can we just cut the arguing while we're here please." Hawkeye replied.

"Fine." Margaret answered simply, going back over to Katie who was sitting on the sofa,

A few moments later Daniel came back out to the living room where the others were.

"So, anyone up for some coffee?" Daniel asked.

"As long as you're not making it." Hawkeye replied, smiling.

Daniel laughed at his son. "You think you can do better?" he said.

"Dad, anything's better than your coffee." Hawkeye replied.

"Is that so. Well here you are, if you think you can do better than old Dr. Daniel Pierce coffee making extraordinaire, you do it then." Daniel said handing the plunger to his son.

"Fine, Mr. coffee making extraordinaire, I will and you'll see why I am the brilliant coffee maker of the family." Hawkeye replied, getting the coffee out of the cupboard.

Margaret watched Hawkeye and Daniel while they were arguing over the coffee. She could clearly see where Hawkeye had inherited many of his traits from. Daniel was an older version of his son. He had the same cheeky childlike smile and the same sense of humour. Margaret wished she could have had what Hawkeye and Daniel have had all these years, and still continue to have now.

After Hawkeye had finished making his coffee he gave Margaret a cup and filled it with the beautifully scented liquid, "Here try that. It's the best you've tasted right?" he said.

Margaret lifted the cup and took a sip. Yes it was good, she was quite amazed really. She didn't think Hawkeye Pierce had it in him to make a good cup of coffee after all those years in Korea, drinking the really bad imitation the Mess Tent staff called coffee.

Daniel had also made some, convinced his was better he gave a cup to Margaret. "Here honey you be the judge. Who's is better? Mine or Mr. Thinks He Can Make Coffee over there?"

Margaret took a sip of Daniel's. And Daniel said, "Well, who's is better?"

"I have to say Hawkeye's is. I never thought I'd say that." Margaret answered.

"What do you mean his is better? He's paying you isn't he?" Daniel said.

"Dad, come on she just recognises quality when she sees it or tastes it as the case may be." Hawkeye replied.

Margaret laughed. She knew she was going to enjoy this.

Daniel walked over to Margaret and took her arm, "Here I bet this is more than he's paying you."

It was a 20 dollar note. "He's not paying me Daniel. Really. Keep your money." Margaret said.

"No, you keep it." Daniel said. "Anyone who can say my son's coffee is good deserves it."

Margaret laughed and said, "No really you keep it."

"You've got a persistent one here Hawk." Daniel said putting the 20 dollar note back in his pocket.

Hawkeye laughed. And said to Margaret, "Wait until he tells you he can cook."

"Is it as bad as his coffee?" Margaret asked.

"Worse." Hawkeye replied.

"It is not." Daniel replied. "Come on let's sit outside. Come on Katie you too. You come with grandpa."

"I think he's really taken with her." Margaret said, following Hawkeye outside.

"You'd better watch out Margaret he may take her away from you." Hawkeye replied.

Margaret laughed and answered, "Yeah, I better watch out."

Katie was sitting listening to her grandpa tell her wild stories about her dad when he was her age, she was finding it really funny. Margaret was enjoying it too. She loved hearing about Hawkeye when he was a kid.

"Did he?" Katie asked, letting out a little giggle.

"Yeah he did. He used to pull stunts like that all the time." Daniel told his granddaughter.

"What cockamamie stories are you filling her with now Dad?" Hawkeye asked.

"That's between me and my granddaughter." Daniel said.

"Oh, so this is an exclusive little club you have going is it?" Hawkeye asked.

"It sure is." Daniel replied. "So Hawk how come you only found out about little Katie over here recently?"

"Margaret should explain that." Hawkeye said.

"Well, I was afraid. I was afraid Hawkeye wouldn't take it well." Margaret answered, "Luckily for me I was proven wrong." she added.

"That you were." Hawkeye replied.

"So where do you go from here?" Daniel asked.

"What do you mean Dad?" Hawkeye asked.

"You, Margaret and the little one. What are you going to do now?" Daniel asked.

"Well, we haven't really talked about it." Hawkeye replied. "We only got as far as staying here for a while."

"Oh ok. Maybe you should talk about it." Daniel suggested.

"We'll sort it out Dad." Hawkeye replied.

"Ok. I get the message." Daniel replied.

**Next: What will Hawk and Margaret decide to do? Please review, they mean alot :) Thanks. **


	10. Life without my father

This chapter is told from Katie's point of view, enjoy:)

**Chapter 10: Life without my father**

_Mummy never talked about my daddy. Whenever I asked her she always told me that it was a long time ago and it was something I shouldn't worry about. But I wanted to know about my daddy. _

_One day I was sitting on the floor in the living room playing with my toys and I heard Mummy, she was upset. I could hear her crying. I went into her bedroom and saw her sitting on her bed. She had lots of pictures layed out on the bed. They were of people I didn't know. I think they were Mummy's friends from that place. She was sitting with her head in her hands crying. I went in and asked, "Mummy why are you crying?"_

_She looked up at me and answered, "Don't worry sweetie, Mummy's ok."_

"_Ok." I told her. I went out of her room, I sat outside the door. But it was where she couldn't see me, I was around the corner in the hall. I quietly looked in and I saw her holding a photo. I could see the photo was of a man but I didn't know who this man was. But when Mummy looked at his picture she cried, I didn't like this man for making my Mummy cry. _

_Everyday since I saw Mummy holding that man's picture I wanted to know who he was and why he made Mummy so upset. When I asked her she didn't tell me, Mummy does that a lot, she did it even more then. When people see me and Mummy together they always ask where my Daddy is. Mummy never answers them, just like she does with me. I wish she would tell me. When Mummy goes to work at the hospital place in town I have to go to school. Before I had to go to a place with lots of kids some of them were very small. Mummy called it Day Care. I don't think many people liked Mummy taking me there they always looked at her funny. I think it was hard for her, being without Daddy. When I asked her once why my friends didn't have to go to the Day Care place before they started at school she said it was because they had their Mummy at home to look after them. I asked her why she didn't do that with me and she said it was because we didn't have Daddy to make the money so Mummy had to do it. _

_When I finished school for the day I would have to wait a long time for Mummy to get me. That was because she was at the hospital place working. My Mummy's a nurse. I told my class this once during Show and Tell. We had to say what our parents did. Lots of people said their Daddy's went to work and their Mummy's stayed at home. Mine wasn't like that. I said I only had Mummy and she was a nurse at the hospital place. When they asked where Daddy worked I said I didn't have a Daddy. I don't think they liked my answer. They all whispered things to each other. I know they were talking about me and Mummy. When Mummy picked me up that day I was a bit sad because of what the other children in my class had said about her and me not being with Daddy. She asked me what was wrong and I told her what they said. Mummy was sad then too. I think being without Daddy was very hard on Mummy._

_A few days later, at night when Mummy and me had come home I asked if I could see her photos she was looking at a few days before. I wanted to see the man again and ask Mummy who he was. At first she said no, but later on she said I could. So I went into her room and sat on her bed with her and we looked at them. The first one I saw was a picture of Mummy and some other people in front of a post and a tent. I asked who these people were, they all had green clothes on. Mummy said, "These are the people I was in Korea with." _

"_What's Korea?" I asked._

"_It's a country sweetie. Mummy was there in the war, remember?" Mummy answered._

_I nodded. Mummy was happy in this photo, I was happy too that she was happy. I had not seen Mummy really happy before. I looked at the photo and I saw that man again. Mummy's hands were on his shoulders so I asked her who he was. She said, "He was a doctor I used to work with."_

_I asked her why she had her hands on his shoulders and she said it was because they were friends in the Korea place. The next picture was of the same people but with some other ones I didn't know. Mummy said they were more people she worked with in the Korea place. They were sitting in a car, Mummy called it a Jeep. There was a sign in the background it said "MASH 4077th Best Care Anywhere" I asked Mummy what a MASH was. She told me it meant "Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" and that's where she was a nurse in the war in Korea. And the people in the Jeep were the doctors who worked with her. I noticed the man was in this photo too. I asked Mummy his name and she told me his name was Hawkeye I said that sounded like a funny name and she told me it was a nickname and his real name was Benjamin Franklin Pierce. I wondered who this man was and why Mummy had so many pictures of him and pictures of him and her together. _

_The next photo I saw was of Mummy, I think she looked very beautiful. She was in a dress you wear when you get married. I asked her why she wore this dress. She told me she was once married to a man in Korea and he did something not very nice to Mummy. When Mummy told me this I could see some tears in her eyes. I asked if that man was my Daddy and Mummy said no he wasn't. I was happy that my Daddy wasn't the one who made Mummy sad. _

_The next one was of a man I saw in the other photos. Mummy said this was my Daddy's best friend and his name was BJ. I asked her what BJ meant and she said she didn't know. She said BJ always used to say when someone asked him what his name meant "Anything you want." That made me laugh I thought this man was funny. He had a funny moustache too. Mummy said no one liked BJ's moustache, everyone thought he looked funny. _

_I looked through some more photos and found one of the Hawkeye man. I picked it up and asked "Mummy why do me and this man have the same eyes and hair?" _

_And Mummy told me "Because he is your Daddy." _

_I said "That's my Daddy? My Daddy's the Hawkeye man?"_

_Mummy laughed at what I said and she answered, "Yes he is."_

"_How come you never told me before?" I asked._

_Mummy said she was afraid. I asked "Why?"_

_She told me I shouldn't worry that all of that was in the past and she had me and I had her and we would be alright. I said, "Ok Mummy we don't need the Hawkeye man. I love you." Even though I really did want to see my Daddy, I just didn't tell Mummy because she would feel better if I didn't._

_Mummy smiled at me and said, "I love you too sweetie."_

_I was really happy then because Mummy smiled and she has such a pretty smile. _

"_Thankyou Mummy. For showing me these pictures." I told her. _

"_That's ok sweetie, sometimes it's good to look back on the past." Mummy said. "But then again it's good to look to the future. Maybe one day you will meet your Daddy. Would you like that?" she asked._

"_Yes, I would. I would love to meet the Hawkeye man." I answered._

**Next: It's decision time for Hawk and Margaret, what will they do? Please review, they make my day! Thanks:) and thanks to Maggie for the idea for this chapter, I hope you liked the way it turned out. :)**


	11. For love or practicality?

**Chapter 11: For love or practicality?**

Later on that night after Daniel had gone to bed and Margaret had tucked Katie in she and Hawkeye were sitting on the front veranda talking.

"Your Dad's right Hawkeye what are we going to do?" Margaret asked.

"We should think of what's best for Katie." Hawkeye replied.

"I agree, but that still leaves the question pretty much open." Margaret answered.

"Well should we get married?" Hawkeye asked straight out.

"What?" Margaret asked.

"Should we get married." Hawkeye answered in the same tone as before.

"Hawkeye you're crazy." Margaret replied.

"Why? What's wrong with marriage, you did it once." Hawkeye replied.

"Yes, and you know how that turned out. Hawkeye, after my marriage I don't believe in marrying someone just because it's convenient or because it's 'the right thing to do'. I want to marry for love. I don't think I could handle being heartbroken again." Margaret answered.

"What makes you think I would break your heart?" Hawkeye asked.

"It's just the way you are. You can never stay with a women for longer than a few months. You're not the marrying type." Margaret said. "All my life I've been involved in convenient relationships, I know what it's like. I can't go through that again. Not now that I have Katie." she added.

"Now that _we_ have Katie, Margaret listen she's our daughter, she's not alone and neither are you. You don't need to worry, I won't break your heart. I couldn't do that to Katie or you." Hawkeye replied.

"It's not that simple Hawkeye. I want to marry for love for all the things I haven't really had in a relationship. I can't just marry you just like that, we're not even in a relationship. We're not in love." Margaret said.

"But Margaret I do love you." Hawkeye said, sincerely.

"What did you say?" Margaret asked, surprised by his comment.

"I said I do love you." Hawkeye replied.

"Hawkeye how can you just say that? How can you be sure?" Margaret asked.

"I mean it Margaret. Really." Hawkeye said, hoping to reassure her. "Just think about it and let me know in the morning." he added.

Once Hawkeye had gone back inside Margaret sat and thought about what he had just said. She didn't know what to believe. She didn't know if he was telling the truth, that he really did love her or if he was just being a good friend. She felt it was typical of Hawkeye to do something like this for the sake of helping her, she believed that he would do almost anything for her if she needed help. That was the way their relationship as friends worked. If one needed a shoulder to cry on the other was there waiting. She knew he cared but she just didn't know if this is what she wanted. She wanted love. Was it too much to ask for? Was she convincing herself she needed love after all her failed and temporary relationships? Could Hawkeye Pierce be her 'custom fit in an off the rack world'? they certainly could relate to that. Both had relationships that fit into the off the rack world description but would it work? She just didn't know. It was going to be a long and sleepless night for her, she really wanted to give Hawkeye an answer, she just hoped she could.

oooooooooooooo

The next morning Margaret awoke quite early. She had been lying in her bed starring at the ceiling thinking about the whole situation for a while now. She recalled their years in Korea, not that those were memories she wanted to look back on. Although she had to admit there were some she didn't want to forget, but these memories were of people and the people were the one thing that made it seem bearable. Hawkeye was one of the people, he knew and understood her feelings towards a lot of things that the few people she had called friends barely even knew about. Laying there thinking about all this made Margaret realise Hawkeye was probably the only person who knew almost, if not everything about her. Maybe he even knew more than she did. But the ever present question of 'would I have love with Hawkeye Pierce?' plagued her mind. She felt she didn't deserve anything less than absolute genuine love. Was this too much to ask for? Did she have expectations that were too high for the 'off the rack' relationship she had with Hawkeye? She just plain and simply didn't know.

While Margaret was deep in thought Hawkeye and Daniel were sitting at the bench in the kitchen eating their breakfast and discussing Margaret.

"So, you two decide anything?" Daniel asked, chewing on his piece of toast.

"Well not really. I think I may have blown it." Hawkeye answered.

"How do you mean?" Daniel asked.

"I told her I loved her." Hawkeye replied.

"You did what? Hawk, haven't I taught you anything?" Daniel exclaimed.

"What?" Hawkeye asked.

"Hawk, why'd you just blurt that out? Do you love her?" Daniel asked, picking up some more toast.

"I think so, I certainly feel very strongly about her. She's a great person Dad." Hawkeye replied.

"Hawk, It sounds to me like she needs more than 'I think so.' She's been hurt in the past right?" Daniel said.

"Yeah she has. I don't want that to happen to her again." Hawkeye replied.

"Well give her time Hawk. Use some of that legendary Pierce charm we have." Daniel said.

"Right Dad. I don't think legendary Pierce charm is the sort of thing that works on Margaret Houlihan." Hawkeye answered, stealing his Dad's last piece of toast and quickly putting it in his mouth and walking away.

"Hey, that was my toast!" Daniel exclaimed.

All he received in reply was a jumble of words making no sense. Hawkeye was off to take a shower. Once he had gone upstairs, Margaret finally came out of her room. She was dressed in her pyjamas and a dressing gown.

She saw Daniel cleaning up so she went over and offered to help.

"Good morning love." Daniel said.

"Can I help you with that?" Margaret asked.

"No, no you just sit down there and I'll get you some breakfast. A Daniel Pierce special." Daniel asked.

"And what would that be?" Margaret asked.

"The best eggs and bacon you'll ever have." Daniel replied.

"Is it as good as your coffee?" Margaret asked.

"I see you've been spending too much time around my son." Daniel replied.

Margaret laughed and then said, "Actually I've been thinking a lot about your son lately."

"Oh have you now?" Daniel asked.

"Yes I have. He told me he loved me last night and I just don't know what to do about it." Margaret answered.

"Come, step into my office." Daniel said asking Margaret to come around to the bench.

"Not only are you an expert coffee maker and chef but you're also a psychiatrist?" Margaret asked, amused by Daniel's comment.

"I'm just a single father." Daniel replied simply. "Now back to my son. Tell me about it."

"He asked if we should get married then I told him I wanted to marry for love not just because it was convenient or the right thing to do. After my previous marriage I feel I deserve that." Margaret explained. "And then he said that he did love me. And he wanted an answer in the morning as to what we'll do. I've been thinking about this so much and I just don't know. I don't want to jump into another relationship that may fail."

"I see. Well Ben cares about you a lot Margaret. He really does. I've never seen him care for a woman as much as he cares for you. Don't underestimate him. You really matter to him and I think he does love you." Daniel replied then he asked, "Do you love him?"

"I care about him a lot." Margaret answered. "He's a great friend."

"Come on there must be more Margaret. I've seen the way you look at him and the way you are with him. You have something special Margaret a friendship that is strong. You have love Margaret. It's right there in front of you. I know that look Margaret, I shared it with my wife. Do what your heart tells you Margaret. It'll lead you on the right path." Daniel explained.

"Thank you Daniel. You've been really helpful. I really appreciate it." Margaret answered.

"That's alright love." Daniel replied.

ooooooooooooooooo

Later on Hawkeye and Margaret decided to take a walk. They needed to sort their situation out. Daniel suggested that Hawkeye and Margaret go off and he and Katie would go into town and get some ice-cream. Katie liked this idea, she was growing very fond of her new grandpa and he was growing fond of her too. This made Margaret especially happy. More than anything she wanted Katie to be happy.

Hawkeye took Margaret down to the beach. There weren't usually many people down there. He didn't really understand why, as it was picturesque in it's beauty. The water was radiantly blue, glittering with silver specks created by the sun. And the sand was smooth like silk, not the rough sand you sometimes find on beaches. It was soft and gentle on their bear feet. He liked the seclusion it was a great place to just walk and think. He found it very relaxing. He hoped Margaret would be able to feel the effects of serenity when he took her down there and they would be able to talk about their situation and find a resolution.

"It's beautiful." Margaret said, marvelling at the water. "It's magic."

"Now you see why I raved so much about this place when we were in that hell hole." Hawkeye replied.

"Defiantly. It's amazing." Margaret answered.

"So, what are we going to do? Did you think of an answer?" Hawkeye asked. He decided to jump right into the issue.

"I haven't stop thinking about it." Margaret answered. "In fact it's all I've been thinking about." she added.

"Me either actually." Hawkeye replied. "What did you decide?" he asked.

"I want to love you Hawkeye. Really I do. But I just don't want the friendship we share to be jeopardised." Margaret said. "We get along so well as friends, but if you remember correctly we tried lovers and we know how that turned out." she added.

"Margaret, I know. But we weren't prepared then. That was not real love Margaret and you know it. If you also remember that sparked the friendship you value so much." Hawkeye replied.

"I know. I'm just worried that we will end up hating each other and I don't want that to happen Hawkeye." Margaret said.

"We won't let it happen Margaret. We can do this." Hawkeye said. "I heard you and Dad talking this morning, he's right you know." he added.

"I hope so." Margaret said.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Hawkeye said, feeling a rush of joy through his body.

"I think it does. Let's try it." Margaret said.

"Thank you Margaret. Thank you so much." Hawkeye replied then he turned to her and kissed her. In the way that only he could and did with her. Dramatically and passionately, brining out the passion he had and it was returned by Margaret showing the passion she had.

"That was certainly a great way of thanking someone!" Margaret said after they pulled away.

"You don't think I thank just anyone like that do you?" Hawkeye said, laughing.

"I hope not." Margaret said.

"You just want it all for your self. I guess liver can't replace my lips after all hey?" Hawkeye asked, smiling with his trademark smile at her.

"I guess not." Margaret said in reply.

**This was going to be the last chapter, but I decided it would be too long if I hadn't stopped so another chapter is on its way! Please review. They mean a lot to me! Thanks :)**


	12. Resolution

**Chapter 12: Resolution**

After talking about their situation Hawkeye wanted to tell Katie, he felt she was owed an explanation of what was happening. Katie was sitting in the living room playing with her dolls. Hawkeye saw her and walked over and sat down next to her.

"Can I join you?" Hawkeye asked, sitting down beside his daughter.

"Do you want to play too?" Katie answered.

"I want to talk to you, is that ok?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yes it's ok." Katie replied.

"I guess you've noticed me and your Mummy together haven't you?" He asked.

Katie nodded, looking down at the carpet the back at her father.

"Well I'm going to be living with you and Mummy now, would you like that?" asked Hawkeye.

Katie smiled and replied, "Really that's good. I would like that very much." then before Hawkeye could say another word Katie asked, "Daddy, how come when I was little and I was just at home with Mummy that she was crying at a picture of you?"

Hawkeye was a bit taken aback by Katie's abruptness but he felt she was right to ask and children often spoke their minds so he would just have to find a way to answer her. After giving his words some thought he finally came up with, "Maybe she missed me." 'what a stupid answer, I couldn't have come up with anything better could I?' Hawkeye thought, slightly annoyed at what he had said.

Katie seemed to accept her father's answer. After a few moments she said, "Daddy, when I looked at the photos Mummy had from the Korea place I asked why I had the same eyes and hair of the Hawkeye man and she said he was my Daddy, but now you say you're my Daddy I'm confused, do I have two daddys?"

Hawkeye smiled at Katie's 'Hawkeye man' comment and answered, "I'm the Hawkeye man."

"You're the Hawkeye man!" Katie exclaimed with excitement.

Hawkeye nodded and said "Yep that's right." Then Katie got up on her knees and hugged her daddy and said, "I love you daddy-Hawkeye-man." Hawkeye hugged her back and said with a little laugh, "I love you too."

"Daddy, why are you called Hawkeye?" Katie asked.

"My Daddy gave it to me, your Grandpa. It's from a book." Hawkeye answered.

"Grandpa gave it to you? Can he give me one too?" Katie replied.

"Yes he did, well he might you just have to ask him." Hawkeye told her. Then he asked, "Did you and Grandpa have a nice time today?"

"Yep we did. It was fun I got to have a really ginormous ice-cream." Katie replied. "It was chocolate." she added.

"Wow you're a lucky girl aren't you." Hawkeye replied.

"Yep. Grandpa even said I could have sprinkles!" Katie said with excitement.

"Wow he did spoil you didn't he." Hawkeye answered. "You're a very lucky girl."

Katie hugged her Daddy again. She was really happy that she could talk to him after all the years she had missed out on with him. Hawkeye was happy too, he was happy that his daughter was happy. Happy to know her Daddy.

oooooooooooooo

During the course of the day Margaret had noticed how attached Katie was becoming to her father, this pleased Margaret immensely. Just knowing that Katie was accepting Hawkeye and visa versa made Margaret extremely happy.

Daniel had also been terrific with his new granddaughter. He was now acting as if they had known each other for all their lives. He was very pleased to have a granddaughter as wonderful as Katie. She reminded him so much of his son. This scared him slightly, knowing what kind of child Hawkeye was, but he was sure Katie had her head screwed on, she had also inherited some of Margaret's cautious nature so Daniel was sure Katie would not be as mischievous as Hawkeye. He hoped, at least, for Margaret's sake. He thought it would be funny for Hawkeye to have a child as mischievous as he had been, then he would understand what Daniel went through. Daniel chuckled at this thought.

Since Margaret and Hawkeye had come back from their walk she had been thinking about planning a picnic for the family tomorrow afternoon. She thought it would be nice for Hawkeye and Katie especially to get out and spend some time together. She had suggested her idea to Daniel, who agreed that it was a great idea, so he was now on the picnic planning committee. They would go down to the beach and sit up on the grass with their blanket and food. Margaret had suggested the beach because it was so amazingly beautiful and she felt it was a really nice place to be. Daniel agreed with her. Now they had a set plan, all they needed was for it to be tomorrow. And to let Hawkeye and Katie in on the plan, but that would come later.

oooooooooooooooo

The next morning Margaret and Daniel were up preparing the food for the picnic this afternoon. They had already made some sandwiches, filled with various fillings, such as chicken, lettuce and mayonnaise and also egg and lettuce. Daniel asked Margaret whether Katie would eat any of the already made sandwiches and Margaret replied yes, she would but they made some peanut butter and jelly ones too. As that was a personal favourite of Katie's.

Hawkeye wandered out to the kitchen and saw his dad and Margaret preparing food and asked, "Well what are we doing Mr. and Mrs. Pierce?"

"Morning Hawk, wanna join us?" Daniel offered.

"What are you doing?" Hawkeye replied.

"Making sandwiches." Daniel said.

"Why?" Hawkeye asked.

"So we have something to eat." Daniel replied.

"When Dad, are we going somewhere?" Hawkeye asked.

"You might say that." Daniel replied. He loved being cryptic with his son. Especially when his son had just woken up.

"Ok Dad, now I'm really confused. Someone please tell me why my father is making sandwiches at 9:00 in the morning with the mother of my daughter." Hawkeye replied.

"I told ya Hawk, so we have something to eat." Daniel replied. He was enjoying this.

"Come on Dad, this isn't the Army. Rations are not needed. Although with taste of their rations you'd be glad you had to ration the food." Hawkeye answered, pouring himself a cup of coffee and stealing one of his Dad's sandwiches.

"Oi, get your hands off that it was for later!" Daniel said, trying to grab it back of his son. When he tried Hawkeye shoved it in his mouth.

oooooooooooooooooo

It was about time for them to head off to the beach for their picnic, Margaret wanted to tell Hawkeye what was happening, but Daniel was insistent on the idea of not telling him. Even Katie knew and every time she saw Hawkeye she would giggle at him, because she knew and he didn't. She was enjoying it as much as Daniel.

Eventually Hawkeye was let it on the secret. He was happy about the idea and slightly miffed at his Dad for not telling him.

When they arrived at the beach Margaret was setting everything up and Katie and her Dad and her Granddad were playing on the playground. Margaret turned and looked at the amusing sight that was before her eyes. Hawkeye, Daniel and Katie all on the swings. She laughed and shook her head. 'Some people never grow up.' she thought, chuckling to herself. She stood up and walked over to them, "Come on you lot everything's ready!" she called.

"Coming mother." Hawkeye replied, running with Katie back over to Margaret.

Daniel was trying to run too, but he gave up halfway in, he was too tired to run.

Once back at the table everyone sat down and took some food. Lunch lasted a good while. There was amusing banter between Hawkeye and his Dad as well as occasional comments from Katie and Margaret.

The scenery was spectacular. Looking out from where they were sitting you could see the long stretch of beach and then the sparkling blue ocean. It really was a beautiful sight. Everyone except Hawkeye of course had brought their togs. Hawkeye of course hadn't because he didn't even know about the whole picnic/beach thing until he had arrived at the beach. So when Katie asked if her Daddy could take her for swim he said he didn't have any togs to swim in. But Margaret had put his in the bag, so he accepted Katie's offer and got changed and followed her down to the ocean. Margaret followed their lead, changing and getting into her togs. Daniel didn't feel much like swimming so he just stayed where he was, looking at the new family together in the water.

Hawkeye was carrying Katie on his shoulders while they were in the water and he was swimming around pretending to be a shark and coming up and surprising Katie. Margaret was joining in the fun too. Katie had found some pool toys in the Pierce's shed so she brought them down with her. One was a ring with a duck head on it, she slipped it around her waist and swam around.

While Katie was amusing herself with her duck ring toy Hawkeye and Margaret were having some fun of their own. They were ducking in and out of the water, sometimes staying under for some time. One could only speculate as to what they were doing under there, but the observant would be able to see clearly what they were up to. They were dipping under mouths locked and would kiss under water, having only each other for air. They would come up laughing hysterically so one could see they were enjoying this immensely.

After their little swim and Hawkeye and Margaret's fun, everyone got out of the water and back onto the beach. Katie went back and joined Daniel. Hawkeye and Margaret went off further down the beach together. Little did they know, Katie and Daniel had hatched a plan to follow them.

"This was really a great idea Margaret." Hawkeye said, with his arm around her waist.

"Don't just thank me, thank your Dad too. He helped with it." Margaret answered.

"I knew he was up to something." Hawkeye replied. "That man can never be trusted when making sandwiches, he's always got something up his sleeve."

Margaret laughed. She wished she could have what Hawkeye and Daniel have. It was something she never had the chance to have with her father.

Katie and Daniel were quietly walking behind Margaret and Hawkeye. Being careful not to be seen they would duck into the bushes. They were both enjoying this. Margaret and Hawkeye did not know they were being followed. They were too busy talking. Katie and Daniel's plan was to, just at the right moment, jump out in front of them.

Walking down the beach, Hawkeye spotted a log sitting amongst some trees. He suggested to Margaret that they sit down for a while. As they had walked a fair distance now. They were well out of anyone's sight. Most of the people that used this beach used a part of it further down, towards the playground area, so there was no one around up this end of the beach. Except for the unknown, to Hawkeye and Margaret anyway, followers Katie and Daniel who were still dipping in and out of trees to avoid being spotted by Hawkeye or Margaret. They were really enjoying this.

Hawkeye turned to Margaret and said, "This really has been great Margaret. First the reunion, seeing all those guys again was terrific and then finding out I have a daughter, what a shock that was. But a good shock." he said reassuring her then he continued, "Then coming back to Crabapple Cove with you and Katie and seeing Dad. I couldn't have asked for anymore."

"You left out the part where you said you loved me." Margaret said.

"Oh yeah, that too." Hawkeye replied then he kissed Margaret on her lips. "You know, those Generals were right, you do have hot lips." he added.

Margaret looked at him, she was at first slightly annoyed at his comment but then she realised it was just the Hawkeye Pierce she had become very attached to. She would just have to accept his comments. After all she wasn't going to change him, she was just going to leave him just the way he was.

Margaret, in return, kissed him back. As a way of thanks probably. But just as she did, when the two were locked Katie and Daniel jumped out in front of them clapping and cheering like idiots.

"DAAAD!!" Hawkeye yelled while laughing, kicking up sand at his father.

Daniel just laughed and kicked sand back at him

"What did you do that for!?" Hawkeye said, "And you too miss!" he said to Katie.

Katie giggled. "It was Grandpa's idea."

"Oh thanks, blame it all on old Grandpa hey!" Daniel replied.

By this point everyone was in hysterics.

Daniel finally said, "Well folks I think I've just about had it for today. It's certainly been more excitement than I've had in a long time. Anyway the sun's about to say goodnight." he said, looking towards the sun which was beginning to set.

"Come on Katie dear, come with Grandpa and we'll back everything up and leave your Mummy and Daddy to do whatever it is they were doing." Daniel said, taking Katie's hand, smiling at his son.

Katie was giggling too. Even though she didn't really understand what was so funny she could see it was something to laugh about. So Daniel and Katie began the walk back up to the playground where they had been eating earlier.

Once they were out of earshot range Margaret said, "He never gives up does he? Was he always this way?"

"Unfortunately for me yes he was. He would always hatch plans to catch me with a girl. It's just his nature to make fun of people." Hawkeye answered, standing up and taking Margaret's arm and helping her get up too.

"Thanks Hawk." Margaret said, brushing sand off her.

They walked slowly up the beach back to Daniel and Katie, and looking at the sunset at the same time. It really was a magical sight. The sky was a beautiful orange and yellow around the glowing sun. It also signified the end of what was and the sunrise the next morning would signify the start of something new. The old being Hawkeye and Margaret's lives before meeting again, and the new being the new life they would have together with Katie.

ooooooooooooooo

**Ok, what do you all think? Should I keep going or is this a good place to end it? Please review. Thanks :) I hope you've enjoyed the story. :)  
Thanks a million to everyone who has reviewed they mean so much to me. :)**


End file.
